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English 1200: Composition II (018)

Spring 2012

Class Meeting: MWF, 1:00-1:50 (Bate: 1022)

Instructor: Robert BradleyEmail:[email protected]

Office Hours: Bate 2025, MW 9:30-12:00

Important Course Requirement

As the semester progresses, keep all of your projects, including all drafts, all peer review

comments, and all feedback from me. You will need this material to complete the final major

assignment in the course.

Course Outcome Goals

English 1200 builds on your understanding of rhetoric and writing processes through an explorationof research-based writing. In this course you will develop your abilities to

Formulate significant research questions Craft a strong research proposal Establish work plans and timelines Locate and evaluate a variety of sources, including field-based, print, and electronic

sources

Apply research and use writing to achieve a variety of purposes Convey the results of your research to a variety of audiences Organize source materials Integrate outside source materialsfield-based, print, and electronicinto your writing Cite sources accurately and responsibly in order to avoid plagiarism Identify and explain writing strategies used in your own work as well as in the work of

experienced writers.

Texts (required)

Miller-Cochran, Susan and Rochelle Rodrigo. The Wadsworth Guide to Research. Boston:

Wadsworth/Cengage, 2009.

Pirate Papers: A Collection of Student Writing, English1200. 5th ed. Greenville, NC: Independent

Press, 2012.

Other Course Readings

Additional readings related to the course content will be provided to you via Blackboardand/or email.

Other Course CostsYou will be required to make photocopies or print-outs of the research sources you use in major

writing assignments.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]

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English 1200, Spring 20122

First-Year Writing StudioI encourage you to make use of the writing assistance provided by the First-Year Writing Studio. The

Studio, located in Bate 2005, is staffed by trained English graduate students who will work with you at

any stage of your writing process. While the Studio does accept walk-ins if a tutor is available at the

time of the walk-in, it is a very good idea to call (328-6399) and make an appointment ahead of time.

Assignments

*****As the semester progresses, keep all of your projects, including all drafts, all peer

review comments, and all feedback from me. You will need this material to complete the

final major assignment in the course.

Portfolio & Cover LetterEach of the writing projects for this course will have a specific due date during the semester. On

this due date, you will submit your work, including all drafts and peer responses, to me for

feedback and grading.

As the last major project for the classin place of a final examinationyou will do the

following:

1. Select two of your graded projects from the course and, based on feedback from your peersand from me, revise these two assignments significantly. In other words, your revisions

should involve more than simply editing or moving a few things around. In the event that you

cannot identify two of your assignments that could be made more effective for their

audience(s) and/or purpose(s) through significant revision, you should come speak with me

about revising one or more of your assignments for a new audience and/or purpose.

2. Compile a portfolio that includes these two revised assignments, along with all drafts of andfeedback on those assignments. This material should be gathered neatly in a folder or slim

binder, and all components of the portfolio should be clearly labeled.

3. Compose a cover letter to turn in with the portfolio. The cover letter should explain andjustify the changes you have made to the two pieces of writing you have revised. In addition,

the letter should identify and explain what you believe is effective in these two writing

projects and what you believe could yet be improved. I will be paying particular attention tohow well your letter reflects an awareness of the rhetorical situations and strategies that are

present in your writing. In addition, the cover letter should explain what you have discovered

about writing and research in your potential career/major and what questions or concerns you

still have about research and writing in that potential career/major. More information about

the cover letter will be distributed during the semester.

Project 1: Major-area Issue Investigation(+/-2300 words)

This assignment asks you to investigate a current, focused problem or area of uncertainty in your

potential major. Your tasks will be to

1. Find out what experts in your potential major disagree about. What problems have they beenunable as yet to solve? What conflicts have they yet to resolve? What important questions have

they not yet been able to answer with a degree of certainty? Consult both scholarly and trade

publications in your field to help identify these issues. In addition to tables of contents, good

places to look include letters to the editor, editorial sections, and commentary sections.

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2. Find at least 10 sources relevant to this problem or controversy. Of these sources, at least 5 mustbe from publications that are specific to the field or profession.

3. Write an annotated bibliography of these sources. The bibliography should summarize the mainideas of each source and explain how you might use each source in your article. Note that this

annotated bibliography is worth 15% of your final course grade.

4. Write an article of 2000-2500 words directed to either a popular or trade audience thataccomplishes two things:

explains whats at stake in the issue and overviews different perspectives on the issue identifies either 1) a possible resolution to the issue or 2) additional kinds of research into

the issue that might help to resolve it in the future.

For this project, you will submit the following:

All drafts and feedback. I will not grade your work if it is not accompanied by alldrafts and the feedback you received from your peers.

Copies of secondary sources (or relevant portions of the sources) that you have citedin your article. These sources should include highlighting that indicates passages youhave quoted, paraphrased, or otherwise cited in your argument. I will not grade your

work if it is not accompanied by properly highlighted copies of your sources.

Project 2: Writing Practices Report (+/- 1200 words)

This assignment asks you to investigate the writing done in your potential profession (in other words,

the writing that you would do on the job rather than in coursework, although there will most likely be

some overlap between the kinds of writing you need to do on the job and the kinds of writing you willbe asked to do in your major area courses). The kinds of questions you should answer in this report

include, but are not limited to,

What are the most common and most important kinds of writing completed by professionalsin your intended career/profession? Why are these common and important?

For what purposes and in what contexts will you need to do the most writing in your potentialcareer? What kinds of topics and issues will you most often be dealing with in your writing? What audiences will you be expected to address most often in your writing? What are the textual characteristics (length, style, tone, format, medium, etc.) of the most

common kinds of writing that you will need to complete?

What processes are involved in the most common and most important writing that you willneed to do?

In addition, your report should identify and explain

1) at least one way in which the writing in your potential profession is similar to the writing that youhave done in school thus far and

2) at least one way in which the writing in your potential profession is different from the writing thatyou have done in school thus far.

You will research these questions through both published sources and at least one interview with aprofessional who is working or who has worked in the field. Note that, unless you intend to teach and

research at the university level, ECU professors are not appropriate interview subjects for this project.

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Based on the information that you gather, you will compose a report about writing in your potential

career/profession that is intended to introduce other first-year college students who are considering

the same career to the kinds of writing that they will need to learn how do.

For this project, you must submit the following items:

Copies of secondary sources (or relevant portions of the sources) that you have citedin your report. These sources should include highlighting that indicates passages you

have quoted, paraphrased, or otherwise cited in your report. I will not grade your


Your paper, along with your drafts and peer review feedback. I will not grade yourwork if it is not accompanied by all drafts and the feedback you received from

your peers.

Project 3: Working in the Past Article (+/- 1200 words, plus visual)

Following orientation sessions at the North Carolina Collection and/or the Special Collections

Departments in Joyner Library, you will

1. Select an item (an artifact) that is at least 20 years old and that was used in a professionthat you might be interested in pursuing.

2. Research the historical, cultural, and social contexts in which the artifact originated andwas used. Some questions that might guide your research include

Where, how, and by whom was this object produced? What purpose did it serve when it was first produced? What does it indicate about the place in which it was produced? How does it reflect the time that it was produced? How does it reflect the values, interests, and goals of its maker/author and its

user(s)?

What does it reveal about the field/profession at the time?

What does it suggest about how the field/profession has changed since that time?3. Write an article about this artifact for inclusion in a trade journal in the field (we will talk

about trade journals in class). In other words, you should imagine that the reader for this

project is a current, working professional in the career area that the artifact relates to.

This article should be +/-1200 words and should include at least one visual.

For this project, you will submit the following items:

Your article about the item you have chosen, along with all drafts and peer reviewmaterials. I will not grade your work if it is not accompanied by all drafts and

the feedback you received from your peers.

Copies of secondary sources (or relevant portions of the sources) that you have citedin your article. These sources should include highlighting that indicates passages youhave quoted, paraphrased, or otherwise cited in your argument. I will not grade your


Grading

Assignment % of CourseGrade

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Portfolio & Cover Letter15%

Project 1: Career/Major Issue Investigation

Annotated Bibliography for Project 1

20%

15%

Project 2: Writing Practices Report 20%

Project 3: Working in the Past Article 20%

Class Citizenship 10%

Late Work

I do not accept late work unless specific, documentedemergencies prevent you from completing

something on time.

Class Citizenship

When I say class citizenship, I am referring to your efforts to make this a successful class foryourself, for your fellow students, and for your instructor.

Some things you can do to earn a high citizenship grade are

complete all assignments on time come to class consistently and be attentive while you are here participate actively and productively in peer review sessions (Instructions for peer review

and for documenting your contributions to peer review will be provided in class)

bring your texts and other class materials to class complete readings thoroughly and on time, and participate effectively in class discussions.

Some things you can do to earn a low citizenship grade are*

bring incomplete work to class miss peer review or bring insufficient work to peer review arrive late read a newspaper in class sleep in class use cell phones during class show disrespect for the views of others hold side conversations during class discussion, and participate in any activities that do not contribute positively to the learning environment

in the classroom.

*Please be aware that, in addition to the negative effects these poor citizenship practices will have on

your citizenship grade, they can be grounds for more serious disciplinary action, including removal

from the course.

AttendanceIn order to be successful in this class, your regular attendance is essential. Class meetings will be used

to complete in-class writing assignments and group work, to participate in peer review activities, to

receive information about assignments and expectations, and to discuss reading material. Beyond the

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damage absences can have on your class citizenship grade, missing more than 5 class meetings of a

MWF class or more than 3 class meetings of a TR class without full documentation of a university-

excused absence or a medical or family emergency will lower your course grade by five points (or

letter grade) for each additional class absence. Your grade can be lowered even down to an F if theabsences continue. I will send you a written warning when your course grade begins to suffer due to

missed classes.

Official University Absences will be recognized, although I will expect you to hand in work prior to

your absence unless we have discussed a different option.

If you need to be absent for any reason, it is very important that you find out from a classmate what you

have missed. I sometimes need to change assignments or due dates, and I may announce these changes

in class.

PlagiarismBe aware that the writing you do for this course must be your work and, primarily, your words. It is OK

to incorporate the words or ideas of others in support of your ideas, but when you do so, you should be

sure to cite the source appropriately. We will talk about citation during the course.

Penalties for plagiarism are severeif I become aware of any intentional attempt to plagiarize (e.g.knowingly submitting someone elses work as your own, downloading a paper from the internet, etc.),

you will be given an F for the course and a report will be filed with the Office of Student Rights andResponsibilities, the office which maintains reports from all university faculty and staff regardingacademic integrity violations. If you are caught cheating or plagiarizing a second time, in this course or

in any other course while you are at ECU, you can be suspended or even expelled from the university.

Be sure to see me if you have any questions about plagiarism before you turn in an assignment.

The complete text of ECUs academic integrity policy can be found here:http://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/fsonline/customcf/facultymanual/newmanual/part4.pdf. I recommend that you take the time to

review it.

Accommodation of Special NeedsEast Carolina University seeks to comply fully with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Students requesting accommodations based on a disability must be registered with the Department for

Disability Support Services located in Slay 138. The offices phone number is (252) 737-1016(Voice/TTY).

Weather/Campus EmergenciesIn the event of a weather emergency, information about ECU can be accessed through the following

sources:

ECU Emergency Noticeshttp://www.ecu.edu/alert ECU Emergency Hotline(252)328-0062

Continuity of InstructionDuring a pandemic or catastrophic event, and after all face-to-face instruction has been suspended,

communication for our class will take place through ECU email and Blackboard. In the event of such anemergency, check your ECU email account for instructions.
http://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/fsonline/customcf/facultymanual/newmanual/part4.pdfhttp://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/fsonline/customcf/facultymanual/newmanual/part4.pdfhttp://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/fsonline/customcf/facultymanual/newmanual/part4.pdfhttp://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/fsonline/customcf/facultymanual/newmanual/part4.pdfhttp://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/fsonline/customcf/facultymanual/newmanual/part4.pdfhttp://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/fsonline/customcf/facultymanual/newmanual/part4.pdf

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Retention Requirements

GPA Hours at ECU (identified inTranscript in Banner Self

Service) plus transferred credit

hours

Old Retention

Requirement All coursestaken at ECU

New Retention RequirementsEffective with Fall 2011 grades

All courses taken at ECU1-29 semester hours 1.6 GPA 1.8

30-59 semester hours 1.8 GPA 1.960-74 semester hours 1.9 GPA 2.0

75 or more semester hours 2.0 GPA 2.0

Documents

Syllabus 1200 018